A pair of influential national Republicans are helping Ohio Gov. John Kasich get out the vote in Ohio, as the Republican governor says he wants to include both parties in a movement to unify the country.

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie helped introduce Kasich to a crowd of about 400 supporters at the Ohio State University airport on Saturday.

All three, and GOP statewide candidates Attorney General Mike DeWine and Auditor Dave Yost, encouraged the loyal Republican crowd to take nothing for granted in Tuesday’s election despite mostly huge GOP leads in the polls.

In downtown Columbus, down-ticket Democrats were mobilizing volunteers to get out voters hoping to offset the lackluster performance of their governor candidate, Cuyahoga County executive Ed FitzGerald.

]]>http://wosu.org/2012/news/2014/05/12/kasich-stresses-important-movement-in-gop-dinner/feed/0Ed Fitzgerald,election 2014,gop,John Kasich,November election,ohioHundreds of Ohio GOP leaders gathered in Columbus over the weekend for the Party's annual state dinner, where Gov. John Kasich talked about the importance of the November election.Hundreds of Ohio GOP leaders gathered in Columbus over the weekend for the Party's annual state dinner, where Gov. John Kasich talked about the importance of the November election.WOSU Newsno1:10Columbus Loses Bid To Host Republican National Conventionhttp://wosu.org/2012/news/2014/04/02/columbus-loses-bid-to-host-republican-national-convention/
http://wosu.org/2012/news/2014/04/02/columbus-loses-bid-to-host-republican-national-convention/#commentsWed, 02 Apr 2014 18:07:18 +0000Karen Kaslerhttp://wosu.org/2012/news/?p=68435

Ohioâ€™s hopes for one of the two major party presidential conventions in 2016 have dwindled slightly. Columbus has been eliminated from consideration but Cleveland and Cincinnati remain in the running.

Ohioâ€™s hopes for one of the two major party presidential conventions in 2016 have dwindled slightly. Columbus has been eliminated from consideration but Cleveland and Cincinnati remain in the running.

Democratic Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson called a press conference shortly after the Republican National Committee announced the city had made the first cut to host its convention, saying heâ€™d gotten a very brief phone call with the news that Cleveland was among the six cities still under consideration.

â€œThis second phase is one where they send in a technical team, I guess, to validate whether or not what we have asserted in our application is correct. We make it through this round and weâ€™ll go through to the third round which is a full site visit,” says Jackson.

City leaders said they were optimistic to have made it this far. That was the sentiment in Cincinnati as well, expressed by Democratic Mayor John Cranley.

â€œWe are excited as all can be that we are a finalist for this convention, and we will do everything we can to convince the National Republican Party to pick Cincinnati,â€ says Cranley.

But as officials in northeast and southwest Ohio celebrated, those in the central part of the state were downcast. Democratic Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman got the bad news in a phone call just after a press conference, and he said it appeared that issues with transportation may have hurt Columbusâ€™ bid.

â€œFolks coming to the city, getting right downtown or to Easton or the Ohio State University, need to have good public transportation. So we’ve got to look at COTA and we’ve got to look at light rail to downtown,” says Coleman.

Southwest Ohio is strongly Republican. While Cleveland is solidly Democratic, leaders donâ€™t feel that will hurt their chances. Itâ€™s thought that Las Vegas is the frontrunner, though. Whichever community is selected to host the convention will have to raise at least $50 million, but some studies have shown the return on that investment could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The RNCâ€™s next announcement is expected in late May. Democrats have approached all three cities about their 2016 convention, and Coleman says Columbus is making a strong push to campaign for that convention. While Ohio has played a key role in the last several presidential contests, Ohio hasnâ€™t hosted a major party convention since 1936.

Cleveland made bids to host political conventions in 2008 and 2012, but lost out both times. Local leaders are hopeful more hotel rooms and a new convention center will land them the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Ohioâ€™s three biggest cities are all in the running to host the Republican National Convention in 2016. Representatives from Cleveland and Columbus are in D.C. this week to try to woo the GOP to this presidential battleground state, and Cincinnati reps will be there soon to do the same.

The pitch to Republicans goes like this: Come to Ohio, reserve rooms in our hotels, buy dinners and drinks in our restaurants, and put money on the table in our casinos â€“ and you might go home with the promise of our 18 electoral votesâ€¦and maybe the presidency.

Itâ€™s not the first time weâ€™ve heard this. Cleveland made bids for the 2008 and 2012 conventionsâ€”but no luck.

Early this year, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald â€“ whoâ€™s now running for governor as a Democrat â€“ offered one reason.

â€œIf you go back into history and look at when we tried to get conventions and failed before, a lot of times it was hinging on the fact that we didnâ€™t have the hotel capacity.â€

But he says itâ€™s different this time.

Across the street, excavators tear apart the old county headquarters that stands right next to the cityâ€™s brand new convention center. A county-owned hotel will go up in its place â€“ one of several new downtown hotels in the works.

Cleveland may be expanding its capacity, but Columbus officials are hoping their city will prove more attractive.

â€œWe are the 15th largest city in the nation. Weâ€™re the largest city in Ohio, one of the most successful and prosperous economies in the nation,” Ross says.

And Columbusâ€™s Democratic mayor, Michael Coleman, has thrown in an additional pitch, according to Time.com, suggesting to the GOP that Ohio would go red if they brought their convention to his city.

Hamilton County GOP Chair Alex Triantafilou is also working the political angle in his pitch for bring the convention to Cincinnati.

â€œI think our edge really is our geographic location and our importance on the Republican electoral map…Voter turnout matter a great deal in the southwestern part of the state, especially for Republicans.â€

He says Cincinnatiâ€™s downtown on the Ohio River should also be a big draw for Republicans.

Former Ohio House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson was co-chair of the RNC from 2005 to 2009. She says local politics is a consideration in choosing a convention host, but more importantly, cities have to prove they can handle a big event â€“ and make delegates happy.

â€œIt is hotel rooms. It is how long they have to be transported on the bus. It is an ability to get them in and out of the arena in a timely fashion.â€

So whatâ€™s in it for the host city? Fame, for one thing, says Positively Clevelandâ€™s David Gilbert:

â€œIf you have four or five thousand media, not only are they going to be reporting on whatâ€™s happening politically, but theyâ€™re also going to try to relate a lot of that to the city that theyâ€™re in.â€

And, he says, all those dollars spent on food and hotel beds would add up to a big windfall.

Thatâ€™s something College of the Holy Cross economics professor Robert Baumann questions.

He says cities should be honest within themselves â€“ a convention might make them famous, but in might not make them rich.

â€œThe hospitality industry, Iâ€™m sure theyâ€™re thrilled. And Iâ€™m sure theyâ€™re advocating for it because Iâ€™m sure theyâ€™re going to make money…but when you add up all the industries in the city as a whole, what theyâ€™re gaining is offset by losses in other areas.â€

Plus, host cities have to raise at least $55 million from local and national business groups.

The other contenders are Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, Kansas City and Denver. Dr. Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto teaches politics and governance at the University of Texas. She says Ohio has an advantage over Arizona and New Mexico in the Electoral College. But she says if Republicans are hoping to remake their image after two presidential defeats, and court Latino voters â€“ maybe they should go west.

“I think the message is one of, â€˜Weâ€™re renewing ourselves, and part of that renewal is we want to reach out to new electorate of the South and the Southwest.â€™ Itâ€™s that typical Sun Belt versus Rust Belt.â€

It will be months before we hear what the GOP decides. In the meantime, at least one city is hedging its bets.

In case the Republicans go elsewhere, Columbus is also courting Democrats for their convention.

The Tea Party and powerful PACs like Club For Growth are now prime targets for a former Ohio Congressmanâ€™s ad campaign. This week, Steve LaTouretteâ€™s Mainstreet Advocacy Group unveiled an ad he hopes will eventually moderate the ranks of Congressional Republicans.

The 30-second ad was unveiled at a New York fundraiser earlier this week, then officially launched Wednesday.

Itâ€™s simply called “Senate Candidates Hall of Shameâ€¦featuring Tea Party-backed candidates that lost their bids in 2012, including Missouriâ€™s Todd Akin and Delaware hopeful Christie Oâ€™Donnell.

LaTourette passed on running for a tenth term citing extremely partisan gridlock in Congress.

During the most recent government shutdown last month, LaTourette talked with Cleveland public radio station WCPN about his Main Street Advocacy Groupâ€™s mission.

â€œWeâ€™re in the business of electing center right Republicans, and defending them against extremist right wing attacks in Republican primaries so we can send more people who say â€œyesâ€ and help John Boehner govern the country,” LaTourette said.

Requests to several local Tea Party activists for comment were not answered in time for this story.

But an October 2010 press release from the Portage County Ohio Tea Party shows they endorsed LaTourette, and he accepted.

But two years later, the Bainbridge Township Republican denounced the Tea Party, announced his retirement from office, and pledged to work for moderate conservative candidates.

A group of Republican state lawmakers are joining the call for a federal balanced budget amendment. House leaders are pushing their colleagues to pass a resolution for a federal balanced budget amendment convention.

A group of Republican state lawmakers are joining the call for a federal balanced budget amendment. House leaders are pushing their colleagues to pass a resolution for a federal balanced budget amendment convention. If 34 states do that, a convention could be called to draft an amendment requiring the federal government to spend only what it brings in in revenue. House Speaker Pro Tem Matt Huffman of Lima says the only way to get a handle on federal spending is for state lawmakers to exert their influence.

Gov. John Kasich, a former Congressman who once chaired the House Budget Committee, called for a balanced budget amendment last month. Huffman says far right groups have opposed such conventions in the past, but this is an issue on which Republican lawmakers and Tea Party activists agree. The balanced budget amendment will be discussed at the We the People convention of Tea Party organizers later this month,

Elected officials who signed a letter endorsing Matthew Borges as the next chairman of the Ohio Republican Party have asked him to resolve and explain the tax liens he's accrued before Friday's election.

Elected officials who signed a letter endorsing Matthew Borges as the next chairman of the Ohio Republican Party have asked him to resolve and explain the tax liens he’s accrued before Friday’s election.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Jon Husted (HYOO’-sted) expressed disappointment that Borges hadn’t made them aware of the liens before he sought their backing.

Borges’ attorney said Monday his client owes $168,161 in federal taxes and $4,198 to the state following a recent adjustment.

DeWine said he told Borges he owes everyone an explanation for how the unpaid debts were accumulated. Husted said he asked Borges to resolve the debts before the GOP State Central Committee votes Friday.

Attorney Robert Onda said Borges plans to pay all but a disputed 2006 lien by Tuesday.